Apartment 217
by Hedgi
Summary: Part of History repeats. A few drabbles set in the Izumi's apartment, during the events of A Fading Hope/ An Unseen Kindness. Izzy's parents are by far the most accepting and understanding about the whole Digidestined thing. Izzy is grateful- and his parents are glad to know the truth, even if it also means they know the danger their child is in all too well.
1. Chapter 1

Izzy cleared his throat, and his mother looked up. " Yes, Izzy? what is it?"  
"Mom, I need to talk to you and Dad." Yoshie Izumi put down the dishtowel glass she'd been drying.  
" Of course. is this about...?" she trailed off.  
" Yes. the Digital world."  
"Masami!" She called as she sat at the table, and a moment later, Izzy's father left his study, joining his wife and adopted son in the kitchen.  
"What's this about, Son?" he asked gently.  
" Earlier today," Izzy began, "Matt was hurt in the digital world. Badly. We don't really know what happened, or why it's affecting him like this, and we _have _to figure it out."  
"Matt? Matt Ishida? From across the street?" Mrs. Izumi pressed a hand to her mouth.  
"I remember him... he was at the battle, wasn't he? With the angels?" Mr. Izumi asked, frowning.  
"Yes. He's one of the digidestined. T.K's brother. He..he's in the hospital now, but they can't figure out what's wrong, and they won't, it's not from Earth, their tests are useless. His only chance," it hurt to say those words, "is for us to find out how to fix it from the Digital world, find out how to stop whatever caused it. That's what I need to talk to you about." Izzy paused, looking at his parents.  
"It'll take time to solve this. I'll be ok," he started. "Really, I will. I'll have Tentomon with me, and we've been on our own before. and I've already spoken to my teachers- well, emailed. I'm ahead in most of my classes, and there are no tests or projects coming up, except for a programing test, but I've already worked out with Mr. Sato, and I can do it online - the Digital world has excellent internet reception and-"  
" Izzy, wait." Masami Izumi held up a hand. " You want to go to the digital world, and stay for a while, is that it?"  
The teenager nodded.  
"How... How long?" his mother asked softly, rising.  
"I'm not sure. Two or three days, maybe longer. With any luck, that will be long enough to find out what triggered the gears, how they work, and it'll also help for one of us to be on guard, in case there's another sighting. I _need_ to do this." Already, Izzy knew that he was going, whether or not his parents agreed, but he was hoping...  
"OK." Izzy's mother nodded. " If you need to go, you need to go. " She looked to Masami, still seated. "We won't stop you."  
Izzy's father nodded. " Your mother's right. If this is what you want to do, what you need to, we won't stand in your way."  
The redhead nodded quickly. "Thanks." He was suddenly even more grateful that his parents were so accepting and supportive of his role in the Digital world. That they weren't like Tai's parents, or Mimi's, or Joe's (although Joe's didn't really _know_ so the point was moot.)  
" I'll make you some lunches, some food, to take." Izzy's mother turned to the fridge, stopping. "Tentomon liked.. what was it?" She tried to think back to the last time the digimon had been in the human world, but it had been several months. "Was it the chicken?"  
"Tentomon likes _anything_ you make, Mom." Izzy grinned at the memory.  
As she gathered leftovers and plastic tupperwear containers, Yoshie paused. "When? Are you leaving...now?"  
Izzy shook his head. " I want to try and find the best location for a base, where I'll be of best use and Tentomon will be able to stay on guard. There will be a lot of places to cover. Sora might be able to- no, she's got that tennis tournament. Oh, and I'll need to reroute the feeds from Ken's camera system to Yolei's computer..." he trailed off. " Sorry. No, not tonight. Tomorrow, after school."  
His parents nodded.  
"Oh, Izzy!" his mother embraced him. "Be careful out there."  
"I will, Mom." Izzy said, hugging her back.  
His father stood, joining the hug. " Make us proud, Son."  
He nodded, then stepped back. " I have a lot to do, before..."  
"Of course. We love you, Izzy."  
"I love you, too"


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note:**

**Sorry this took so long! I have just been so lazy. Um, yeah. Takes place after chapter 6ish of A Fading Hope, has spoilers for that. Um, warning- kinda emotional?**

**Disclaimer: I claim the backstory stuff about Eiji, and that's it.**

* * *

_Chapter two_

Yoshie Izumi tugged the coverlet tighter around her and sighed into her pillow. She had no place to be, this early in the morning. She always took these few days off of work, just these few days, when the leaves changed color and fell from the trees in the park. Her coworkers all knew by now the why of it, after so many years, the same pattern. A handful of days, where she lay in bed longer than normal and stayed in her home, quiet, still. She heard the sounds of household-life. Masami showering. The clock ticking. Footsteps above and below and outside the apartment.

She sat up.

It was a bit passed 7 am.

She lay back, closed her eyes.

It wasn't healthy, she knew, to still wallow in grief, after a dozen-odd years. No. Not a dozen-odd. 14. Nearly 14. 13 years, 11 months, 29 days and 9 hours. She couldn't help the counting, she couldn't help feeling that sorrow and numbness. Time had healed her some. Not entirely.

That was why Yoshie gave herself a few days each year, to rest. To be still and quiet, remembering that hour and three minutes. The rest of the year she tried so hard to put the thoughts away, so they could not consume her.

Two days. Sunday marked the Anniversary, the single date on the little tombstone.

Something startled her out of her thoughts, a rapid banging on the front door. She slid out from between the sheets and pulled on the dark green quilted bathrobe Masami and Izzy had given her for her last birthday, and called through the bathroom door, "I'll get it," In case Masami had heard.

She threw open the door, ready to give whoever was knocking a piece of her mind- it was too early for social calls or salesmen. She took a breath, and it caught in her throat.

It was not a member of her book club or the young mother from down the hall, or someone selling chocolates or vacuum cleaners.

Yoshie's heart skipped a beat and she slowly breathed out, shaking her head to clear it, because it was Tai standing there, Izzy's friend standing there, holding an unconscious digimon she didn't recognize and wearing a grave expression. One word bounced around in her mind, repeating itself- _no, no, no, no._

"Tai?" she asked in a whisper. "Izzy isn't here, he's not here" _Maybe he forgot, maybe he just needed to talk to Izzy, maybe maybe maybe-_

But Tai shook his own head, hesitated, then spoke, quickly, his words falling over themselves. "Mrs. Izumi, I- we- Izzy- he…" He stopped abruptly and Yoshie's heart beat faster, painfully.

"What's happened" she asked, pressing her lips together. Her free hand went to a chain at her throat and tangled in the chain, pressed at the pendant.

Tai swallowed, gulped air, and tried again. He did not meet her eyes.

"We got a distress call this morning, from Sora. There was an attack- she hurt her leg, but we- we were late-"

It was too much. Too much. Yoshie's legs turned to jelly and her knees buckled, she clung to the door frame, leaning heavily on it to remain upright.

_No, oh please don't let him be here to tell me Izzy's gone. Please let it be anything else, anything else please no, don't be here to tell me Izzy's dead, no, no, no, please anything else anything else. I can't lose him, I can't have lost them both._

Blood rushed in her ears as her worst nightmare, the one that had haunted her ever since Izzy had come to her, the one that had grown so much worse since she had learned about Digimon, as it _came true._

Tai was still speaking and she only just caught what it was that he had said.

"…missing, we looked and looked, but there's no sign-"

"Missing." She interrupted. "He's not- not" She couldn't say the word aloud, but –_missing. He's not dead, please not dead._

"We don't know. But we didn't find- him. Or blood, or anything."

That was not good but it was better than the alternative. Yoshie shuddered in the cold, and stepped back. "Come in, you must be cold." Her voice creaked.

Masami, doing up the last button on his shirt came to his wife and took her by the arm. Tai hesitated, then sat on the small flowered footrest by a matching couch where the Izumi's sat.

"Izzy's missing," Yoshie said quietly to her husband.

"How?" he asked, his face going white. He squeezed Yoshie's tiny hand in his larger one.

Tai shook his head again, his hair largely staying in the same position as he did. "We don't know. We found his computer and his digivice, in a ruin.

Something occurred to Yoshie. "Tentomon, Tentomon's with him right?" _Tentomon will protect him, will be with him, help him-_

Tai held up the arms that still cradled the tiny pink digimon. "This is Tentomon. Well, Motimon. He's the smaller form of Tentomon, the weaker form. We found him too, but he's been drained. He's still-"

Yoshie said nothing, simply held her arms out for the tiny creature. She held him in her arms, close to her body, as she had held Izzy. Had held Eiji.

Tai swallowed hard, determination lighting a fire in his eyes. "We'll find Izzy." He said, his voice sharp. Desperate. "We'll get him back, I _Promise_ we'll find him."

Through her wet eyes, Yoshie saw at last that Tai was fighting tears of his own, his shoulders shaking, his breath catching. Masami put a free hand on the boy's shoulder.

"I know," he said, looking at one of his son's best friends. Yoshie nodded, agreeing. She did know. Tai and the other children were a family of sorts. Just a few weeks ago, she remembered that Tai's little sister, Kari, the girl with the Angel-cat- had gone missing. They had found her. They would find Izzy.

"Please," Masami said, "if there is anything we can do, anything at all-"

Tai nodded silently.

Yoshie held Motimon tighter, feeling his heartbeat. "I'll take care of this little one."

Again Tai nodded without words

"Be careful," Masami said, breaking the quiet.

"I will," Tai said, his voice thick. "We all will, and we'll- I need to- to go. School. But Motimon- and I had to tell you."

"Yes," Yoshie said past the lump in her throat. "Thank you."

After Tai had gone, Masami looked at the little digimon, at the family portrait on the wall beside the clock. "Yoshie" he said, heartbreak in his voice. Careful not to squish Motimon, Yoshie fell into his arms.

"It will be alright" they both said to each other at once. They laughed a little at the unison, but the merriment died away quickly.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" Masami asked, but Yoshie shook her head.

"You have that presentation. I'll be fine, with Motimon." She stood up. "I need some tea."

"I'll try to leave early, alright?" Masami said, then kissed his wife goodbye and picked up his briefcase.

Yoshiew busied herself in the kitchen, one handed. She would not let go of the quivering digimon, not until she had to. Not until she had to. She had had to let go before, When Izzy had gotten to big to carry around.

And she had had to let go before, when the doctors had taken Eiji away from her.

Yoshie sipped at her tea, then picked up her coat. Still holding Motimon close, she locked the apartment door and made her way to the subway.

* * *

**MORE! COMING! SOON! I swear it. I have a lot to do- I'm going to the Ventura, California Scotish games this weekend ( if you are in the area, check out the Clan Rose tent! ) and then we are having house guests. And not just any house guests but THE BARON OF KILRAVOCK. from Scotland. So I'm running around getting the house clean. but I will try to have the next bit of An Unseen Kindness up monday ish.**

**please review, I missed you all!**

**HNA**


End file.
